Minimally invasive medical techniques are intended to reduce the amount of tissue that is damaged during diagnostic or surgical procedures, thereby reducing patient recovery time, discomfort, and deleterious side effects. Such minimally invasive techniques may be performed through natural orifices in a patient anatomy or through one or more surgical incisions. Through these natural orifices or incisions clinicians may insert surgical instruments to reach a target tissue location. To reach the target tissue location, the minimally invasive surgical instruments may navigate natural or surgically created connected passageways in anatomical systems, such as the lungs, the colon, the intestines, the kidneys, the heart, the brain, the circulatory system, or the like. Navigational assist systems help the clinician route the surgical instruments and avoid damage to the anatomy. These systems can incorporate the use of sensors to more accurately describe the shape, pose, and location of the surgical instrument in real space or with respect to previously recorded or concurrently gathered images. In a dynamic anatomical system and/or in an anatomical region dense with many anatomical passageways, accurately determining the shape, pose, and location of the surgical instrument may depend, at least in part, upon precision in the relative placement of sensor systems, steering systems, and imaging components. Improved systems and methods are needed for tight control of the relative placement of the systems and components of minimally invasive instruments.